Wiktionary
n. (context Caribbean folklore English) A night witch who sucks people's blood, sheds her skin, and can turn herself into a ball of fire and fly.
Wikipedia
The soucouyant or soucriant in Dominica, Trinidadian, Saint.Lucian, Grenadian and Guadeloupean folklore (also known as Ole-Higue or Loogaroo elsewhere in the Caribbean), is a kind of blood-sucking hag.
Usage examples of "soucouyant".
The soucouyant is usually an old, evil-tempered woman who removes her skin at night, hides it, and then changes into a ball of fire.
Oliphant theorizes that the soucouyant lore was created in an attempt to explain infant deaths that would have seemed mysterious in more primitive times.
In fact, the tales say that the best way to discover a soucouyant is to find her skin, rub the raw side with hot pepper, and replace it in its hiding place.
Hissing with pain, the soucouyant threw off her burning skin and stood flayed, dripping.
In fact, the best way to discover a soucouyant is to find her skin, rub the raw side with hot pepper, and replace it in its hiding place.